They will only bow down under the prisoners, and will fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Parallel Translations
-
They will only bow down under the prisoners, and will fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
-
Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
-
They can do nought except crouch under the captives, and fall under the slain. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Isaiah 10:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 5:25 Therefore Yahweh’s anger burns against his people, and he has stretched out his hand against them and has struck them. The mountains tremble, and their dead bodies are as refuse in the middle of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out.
- Deuteronomy 32:30 How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yahweh had delivered them up?
- Isaiah 9:12 The Syrians in front, and the Philistines behind; and they will devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- Jeremiah 37:10 For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and only wounded men remained among them, they would each rise up in his tent and burn this city with fire.’ ”
- Leviticus 26:17 I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you.
- Leviticus 26:36-37 “ ‘As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword. They will fall when no one pursues. They will stumble over one another, as it were before the sword, when no one pursues. You will have no power to stand before your enemies.
- Deuteronomy 31:15-18 Yahweh appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the Tent’s door. Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers. This people will rise up and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land where they go to be among them, and will forsake me and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Haven’t these evils come on us because our God is not among us?’ I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods.
- Isaiah 9:17 Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is profane and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- Isaiah 9:21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- Isaiah 22:2 You that are full of shouting, a tumultuous city, a joyous town; your slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle.
- Isaiah 24:22 They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; and after many days they will be visited.
- Isaiah 34:3 Their slain will also be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies will come up. The mountains will melt in their blood.
- Isaiah 66:16 For Yahweh will execute judgment by fire and by his sword on all flesh; and those slain by Yahweh will be many.
- Hosea 9:12 Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left. Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them!
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Because they have forsaken me, some shall go into…
Because they have forsaken me, some shall go into captivity, and the rest shall be slain.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 10:4 Without me they shall bow down under…
Isa 10:4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.
Ver. 4. Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners,] i.e., Without any fault of mine. {Hos 13:9} Or, as some render it, Ne corruat inter vinctos, et inter occisos cadant; that it, your glory, should not bow down under the prisoners, and they fall under the slain; i.e., that ye be not some of you captivated, and others slain by the enemy. And yet behold a worse matter.
Read full note →
For all this his anger is not turned away.] Endless torments will follow, unless ye prevent them by repentance, and all your present sufferings are nothing else but a typical hell. {a} Ecce quot mala a contemptu Dei proveniunt.
{a} Hac oratione vir sanctus impios crueatat, et vulaerat. - Osor.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Without me they shall bow down: the words thus…
Without me they shall bow down: the words thus translated seem to contain an answer to the foregoing questions: In vain do you seek for a refuge and help from others; for without me, without my favour and help which you have forfeited, and do not seek to recover, and which I shall withdraw from you, or because you are without me, or forsaken by me,
you shall bow down, notwithstanding all your succours. In the Hebrew here is a change of the person and number, which is very usual in prophetical writings. The LXX., and some others, join these words to the foregoing verse, and translate them thus, that you may not bow down: so the sense of the place is, What will you do to prevent your captivity or slaughter? And it is true, that the first word is elsewhere taken for a negative particle. But the former translation seems more genuine.
Read full note →
Under the prisoners; or rather, in the place (as this particle signifies, and is rendered by interpreters, Gen 30:2; 50:19; Exo 16:29; Jos 5:8, and elsewhere) of the prisoners, or among the prisoners; and so in the next clause, among or in the place of the slain.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners,…
Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain,.... That is, either, being forsaken by me, and destitute of my help, they shall bow down; or, "because they are without me", are not my people, and do not hearken to me, therefore they shall bow down, so David Kimchi; or, were it not for me, they would, as others; or that they might not bow down and fall; and so the words may be connected with the preceding verse Isa 10:3, others render the word, translated "without me, besides"; and the sense is either, as Moses Kimchi, besides their bowing in their own land, when subdued by the Gentiles, a greater affliction shall befall them, captivity; when they should be either carried captive or slain; or besides him that shall bow down under the prisoners, they shall fall under the slain; besides those that are taken, others shall be killed; or none shall escape, but, or "except", him that bows, and hides himself under the prisoners, or in the place of the slain, that he might not be thought to be alive: or the sense is, the desolation shall be so general, that none shall escape, either they shall be taken prisoners, or they shall be slain; agreeably to which Noldius (i) renders the words, "without me", everyone "shall bow down among the prisoners, or shall fall among the slain"; which gives the best sense of them; that, being left of God for their sins, they would either be bound and carried captive, or else slain with the sword, and one or the other would be the lot of everyone of them:
for all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still; the final and utter destruction of the nation of the Jews being then not yet come, when carried captive to Babylon, there remained a greater calamity for them, to come by the hands of the Romans. These first four verses Isa 10:1 seem more properly to belong to the preceding chapter Isa 9:1, and this should begin with the next verse Isa 10:5.
Read full note →
(i) Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 201, 771.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Without me - Without my favour and help, which…
Without me - Without my favour and help, which you have forfeited. Shall bow down - Notwithstanding all your succors.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. Without me] That is, without my aid:…
Verse 4. Without me] That is, without my aid: they shall be taken captive even by the captives, and shall be subdued even by the vanquished. "The י yod in בלתי bilti is a pronoun, as in Ho 13:4." - Kimchi on the place. One MS. has לבלתי lebilti.
As the people had hitherto lived without God in worship and obedience; so they should now be without his help, and should perish in their transgressions.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Without me - בלתי biltı̂y. There has been a…
Without me - בלתי biltı̂y. There has been a great variety of interpretation affixed to this expression. The sense in which our translators understood it was, evidently, that they should be forsaken of God; and that, as the effect of this, they should bow down under the condition of captives, or among the slain. The Vulgate and the Septuagint, however. and many interpreters understand the word bore as a simple negative. ‘Where will you flee for refuge? Where will you deposit your wealth so as not to bow down under a chain?’ Vulgate, Ne incurvemini sub vinculo. Septuagint, Τοῦ μὴ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς ἀπαγωνήν tou mē empesein eis apagōnēn - ‘Not to fall into captivity.’ The Hebrew will bear either mode of construction. Vitringa and Lowth understand it as our translators have done, as meaning that God would forsake them, and that without him, that is, deprived of his aid, they would be destroyed.
They shall bow down - They shall be subdued, as armies are that are taken captive.
Read full note →
Under the prisoners - That is, under the “condition” of prisoners; or as prisoner. Some understand it to mean, that they should bear down “in the place of prisoners;” that is, in prison, But it evidently means, simply, that they should be captives.
They shall fall under the slain - They shall be slain. Gesenius renders it, “‘Among the prisoners, and “among” the slain.’” The Chaldee reads it, ‘You shall be east into chains out of your own land, and beyond your own cities you shall be cast out slain.’ Vitringa supposes that the prophet, in this verse, refers to the custom, among the ancients, of placing prisoners in war under a yoke of wood to indicate their captivity. That such a custom obtained, there can be no doubt; but it is not probable that Isaiah refers to it here. The simple idea is, that many of them should be taken captive, and many of them slain. This prediction was fulfilled in the invasion of Tiglath-pileser; 2 Kings 15; 16.
For all this - Notwithstanding these calamities. The cup of punishment is not filled by these, but the divine judgment shall still be poured out further upon the nation. The anger of God shall not be fully expressed by these minor inflictions of his wrath, but his hand shall continue to be stretched out until the whole nation shall be overwhelmed and ruined; see the note at Isa 10:12.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Without me--not having Me to "flee to" (Isa 10:3).
Without me--not having Me to "flee to" (Isa 10:3).
bow down--Bereft of strength they shall fall; or else, they shall lie down fettered.
Read full note →
under . . . under--rather, "among" (literally, "in the place of") [HORSLEY]. The "under" may be, however, explained, "trodden under the (feet of the) prisoners going into captivity," and "overwhelmed under the heaps of slain on the battlefield" [MAURER].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. Without me — Apart from my help. The…
4. Without me — Apart from my help. The moral is, Leave all else, and flee to me. There is no other door to safety.
They shall bow down — Sinking for very shame and self-reproach lower than other captives, or even to lie beneath the slain in war. The refrain is again chanted, and the series of strophes pointing to the captivity of Israel closes. But black as the prophecy is for Israel, it becomes blacker for Assyria, its foe and captor, in the next piece recited by Isaiah. However dark the shades settle on Israel — God’s own chosen but erring ones — somehow they retire, measurably in virtue of a better few still preserved among them.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. Without me … slain] This clause is very…
4. Without me … slain] This clause is very difficult. The easiest explanation perhaps is to take it as the answer to the questions of Isa_10:3 : (they can do nothing) except crouch under the captives and fall under the slain. Another is “Except one (here and there) crouch among captives, they must fell under the slain.” Objections to both occur readily enough to anyone who reads the Hebrew, especially the abrupt changes from singular to plural. An ingenious conjecture of Lagarde’s gives the sense “Beltis crouches, Osiris is broken (חַת אֹסִיר כֵּלְתִּי כֹּרַעַת cf. Isa_46:1; Jer_50:2), they fall, &c.”; i.e. the heathen gods shall be unable to give protection to their votaries. But there is no evidence that Egyptian deities (Osiris) were worshipped in Israel in Isaiah’s time; and in any case their sudden introduction here would be surprising.
his hand is stretched out still] See on ch. Isa_5:25 ff.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) Without me they shall bow down . .…
(4) Without me they shall bow down . . .—The Hebrew text is obscure, but these words were probably intended as the answer to the taunting question that had preceded them. Dropping the direct address, and passing to the third person, the prophet seems to say as with a kind of ominous “aside,” “No, there is no ally, no hiding-place but this, except they bow down among the captives or fall among the slain.” Exile or death, that was their only alternative. When that sentence has been uttered, the doom-bell, as we have called it, “For all this . . .” tolls once more. If we adopt the Authorised version we have the same fact asserted, with the suggested thought that there was a refuge to be found in God.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Without me. That this is a possible rendering of…
Without me. That this is a possible rendering of the word used seems proved by Hos_13:4. But here it scarcely suits the context. God does not speak directly, in the first person, elsewhere in the entire prophecy, (Isa_9:8-21; Isa_10:1-4) but is spoken of in the third person throughout, as even in the present verse, where we have "his anger," "his hand." It is better, therefore, to give the word its ordinary meaning "except." Have they anywhere to flee to, unless they shall crouch amid the captives that are being carried off, or fall amid the slain? In other words, there is no escape for them; they must either submit to captivity or death. For all this, etc. Even when the two kingdoms were destroyed, and the captivity of both was complete, God"s wrath was not fully appeased, his anger was not wholly turned away. Both peoples suffered grievous things in their captivity, as appears from the Book of Daniel (Isa 3:, Isa_3:6) and other places. It took seventy years for God"s anger to be appeased in the case of Judah, (2Ch_36:21) while in the case of Israel it was never appeased. Crushed beneath the iron heel of their conquerors, Israel ceased to exist as a nation.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.